White House-backed USA Rare Earth makes $3 billion acquisition into South America

The April 20 deal—for more than $2.5 billion in stock and $300 million in cash—helps turn USA Rare Earth (USAR) from an American mining and magnet manufacturing startup with little revenue to count thus far, into a key rare earths player with even bigger ambitions.

The White House has repeatedly invested in critical minerals companies—including rare earths—since the April 2025 tariff wars began after China pushed back on Trump’s tariff plans by exerting its dominance over global rare earths mining, refining, and magnets manufacturing.

“USA Rare Earth is now the global champion in rare earths,” said USAR CEO Barbara Humpton in an April 20 call with analysts. “The world needs what we are building, and we’re moving with purpose and urgency to deliver it.”

“We’re going to be a major supplier to all the other players in the industry…helping the whole industry scale,” she added.

The deal comes with the Pela Ema mine having already secured minimum floor pricing—to prevent exposure to Chinese price dumping—and a $565 million financing package from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation to help fund expansion initiatives. The mine has a 15-year, 100% offtake agreement to various U.S. Government agencies and private capital sources for the magnetic rare earths that are required to make the high-performance, neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets that are critical in most modern electronics from electric vehicles to the aerospace and defense sectors.

The magnets are used in virtually anything that moves. The “core four” rare earths for the magnets, motors, turbines, and more are neodymium and praseodymium, as well as the heavier and rarer dysprosium and terbium, which make the magnets more heat resistant. The Pela Ema mine, which opened in 2024, is touted as the first large-scale, operating mine outside Asia to produce all four of the key magnetic rare earths, as well as the heavy rare earth yttrium.

USAR growth story

USAR only started generating revenues in the fourth quarter of 2025, bringing in $1.6 million in revenues for the year. USAR recorded a nearly $300 million net loss last year.

USAR’s main project is its Round Top rare earths mining and processing project in West Texas, which is slated to open by the end of 2028—two years earlier than prior projections.

However, USAR has been on a tear since the beginning of the year.

The company’s high-powered magnet manufacturing plant in Stillwater, Okla., opened at the end of March, and will continue to ramp up through 2027.

But the big news came earlier in January when the Trump administration—through the Department of Commerce—invested $1.6 billion in USAR, giving the government an equity stake that could exceed 15% as the White House continued its spree of investments in publicly traded companies.

USAR’s market cap rose 12% on April 20 up to nearly $5 billion, and it’s up almost 90% year to date.

Serra Verde’s Brazilian production is expected to represent over 50% of total non-China, heavy rare earths supply by 2027, with further growth potential through a planned second phase of expansion.

Serra Verde CEO Thras Moraitis will become USAR’s president under Humpton. And Serra Verde chairman Mick Davis will join the USAR board. Davis and Moraitis previously helped build up the Xstrata mining giant that was taken over by Glencore in 2014.

“It’s not just a corporate transaction; it’s the creation of a rare earths powerhouse with the scale, the assets, and the strategic positioning to become the defining western player in one of the most critical industries of our time,” Moraitis said on the call.

But USAR isn’t only in the U.S. and Brazil.

Last year, USAR bought U.K.-based Less Common Metals, giving the company a processing and metal-making hub in the U.K. with a new refining and metallizing facility beginning construction soon in France.

The U.K. facility in April just started producing commercial-grade yttrium metal. And, earlier in April, USAR announced a partnership with French rare earths processor Carester.

“Combined with our planned yttrium extraction at Round Top and our oxide-processing capabilities, this positions USA Rare Earth to serve the aerospace, defense, and advanced manufacturing customers who can no longer rely solely on Chinese supply,” Humpton said earlier in April.

As for the Brazilian mine, the second phase of construction is expected to be completed by mid-2027. As part of the new deal, legacy Serra Verde investors would own 34% of the combined USAR.

The new USAR will represent an integrated mine-to-magnet platform spanning three continents with federal backing, Humpton said.

“Our goal is to continue to scale across all these operations,” she said. “Every link in this chain has the potential to serve multiple markets, customers. Every single link has its own business case and can thrive on its own two feet.”